Even sword has a gentle side and so does ice
by Arduriel
Summary: It was a cold dark night and on top of that the rain didn't seem to be stopping any time soon. One-shot with Gray and Erza. What would happen if they found themselves alone in a dark lonesome place? Read and you'll see. Rating T for language.


It was a cold dark night and on top of that the rain didn't seem to be stopping any time soon. Erza sat at the guild's bar with a glass of beer served by Mira. There weren't many people at this time and even Mira was preparing to get home. Erza was looking out the window reluctant to go home at this weather.  
When Mira was prepared to leave, she asked Erza: "Hey, Erza. What's up? You're usually at home at this hour."

Erza drank her beer in one gulp and answered: "Well, I was waiting for the rain to loose up a bit, but it doesn't seem to do so any time soon. I've forgotten my umbrella at home."

Mira's expression changed to an empathic one. "What a shame. I and Lisanna have just one, so I can't help you with that."

She then looked around to the remaining members of the guild.  
"Hey Gray!" she suddenly called out. The said ice mage turned to them. He was now shirtless, but in his hand he was holding an umbrella (He can lose his shirt in a second, but can remember to bring his umbrella, what a guy).

The rain was dropping lazily on top of the umbrella, which was trying to protect the two mages underneath it. Gray was holding the umbrella and Erza was clutching at his arm in an attempt to stay dry.

Mira managed to arrange that Gray would accompany Erza home with his umbrella, so she wouldn't get wet. If Erza knew, she would do such a thing she wouldn't have complaint to her at all. She didn't feel very comfortable in this position with someone else. She was used to being more reserved in words and in touches, but whatever. At least she wouldn't get so wet, so she should just bear with it. Even though Gray was an ice mage, his arm was warm, which was another plus to the situation. Erza's hands were very cold.

'Mira has sometimes the craziest ideas…' Gray thought as he walked alongside Erza. He didn't really mind her clutching onto his arm. He knew she was just trying to stay dry. Even though he was an ice mage, he didn't like to be wet, either. Her hands were so cold… Well, the weather wasn't very warm, either. They kept walking in their own pace through the empty streets of Magnolia as the wind was slowly getting stronger.

The wind suddenly blew off their umbrella which fell to the river afterwards.

"Shit!" Gray cursed as the rain became stronger as well. He quickly grabbed Erza's wrist and they ran into a small empty wooden house.  
"Damn!" Erza said as she wringed her blouse and watched a big amount of water get out of it.

"Well, this was unexpected… I guess we should wait until the rain gets at least a bit weaker." she said annoyed.

Gray ran through his hair with his hand and then shook it furiously. His hair was completely wet. 'That's for the usefulness of my great umbrella' he thought.

They found two stools and sat down in front of the opened door. They were waiting for the rain to lessen, but the rain got even stronger and a thunder joined the fray. After a few minutes, they gave up and decided to stay through the night in there. The house was almost completely empty with only one big room. In the corner was a small closet and a lot of wood was lying around.

Gray looked into the closet and found a blanket. He passed it to Erza and kept rummaging through the closet. There was again a lot of wood and on the bottom he found some matches.

Together they lit a small fire place in the middle and sat next to it. Erza curled up in the blanket and tried to keep her hands warm near the fire. She was shaking anyway.

In the meanwhile Gray managed to instinctively take off his pants and lay them near the fire to get dry. Erza didn't seem to mind as she was used to his exhibitionistic habits.

Gray watched Erza for a while and then said: "I don't think you should stay in those wet clothes."

He wasn't looking into her eyes. She seemed to be surprised by his speech.  
"Yeah, you're right…" she said after a while.

She put down the blanket and started to strip from her clothes.

Gray's face turned red instantly and he looked away. Erza laid down her blouse and her skirt and stayed in her underwear. She curled up in the blanket again trying to get warmer.

They stayed in silence for a while, only the sound of the rain and thunder made some noise around them. Gray noticed that Erza was still shivering. It was a strange sight. Erza the mighty Titania was shivering because she felt cold. She did not shiver even on mount Hakobe, when they were looking for some exotic flowers or whatever it was.

Maybe it was different when she didn't have a quest. Now she wasn't supposed to do anything, so she felt the coldness differently.

Gray had to shake his head to get these stupid thoughts out. 'This isn't the time to be thinking about stupid details. You should do something to warm her up, or she'll get sick…' he thought and suddenly got an idea. He instantly blushed at the thought. 'Come on, Gray. You have to think of something better…'  
He tried, but nothing seemed to be so effective as his first idea, so he stood up to do it.

Erza looked confused as he approached her. "What are you…?"  
"Would you mind sharing the blanket? I'm a little bit cold myself…" he said while blushing. He wasn't even looking into her eyes and secretly prayed for the darkness not to show the blush on his face.

Erza smiled warmly and opened one arm with the blanket. "Serve yourself." she said amusedly. Gray sat down next to her and hid himself beneath the blanket with her. He laid his arm around hers and the blanket covered them both. They stared into the small fire that tried so hard to warm them up at least a little. They both sat in the same position with their legs bent before them. Erza was hugging her knees. Gray held her arms with one hand, and kept them covered with another. They stayed like this for a long while in silence.

"Thanks, Gray." Erza said suddenly. Grayed looked at her puzzled.  
"For what?"  
"For always being there for me." She blushed a bit and hoped he wouldn't notice, but he did.  
"You saved me many times and helped when I was down and I've never thanked you properly, so better later than never: Thanks."

Gray smiled. "Well, you saved my ungrateful ass as many times, if not more. Thank YOU, Erza."

She looked at him surprised and their eyes finally met. Her chocolate brown eyes stared into his dark blue. Both of them seemed to blush a bit, but neither of them cared.

Erza's shivering finally stopped. It actually seemed as if the time stopped, only the loud raindrops and thunder announced the continuation of the time. Erza and Gray kept staring at each other without even blinking.

Gray blinked and slowly drew closer to her. They were now just an inch away from each other. He could smell her breath. It smelled sweetly like strawberries. Something suddenly stopped him. He felt her index finger at his lips stopping him from approaching.

"We're friends, aren't we?" she said, without getting her gaze of his eyes.

He didn't answer. His hand, which lied on her shoulder, now came up to her hair and stroked it caressingly. Erza's eyes widened and her index finger didn't stand so strongly as before.

Gray took her wrist gently and put her hand away from his mouth.

"Just friends?" He asked with a serious voice.

Erza's bottom lip started to shake a bit as if in uncertainty.

Gray kissed the back of her hand and closed his eyes to take in her scent. He always held her dear, but he never imagined anything more between them than friendship. Suddenly it didn't sound so bad. She was strong and fierce. He liked that about her, but she was very shy to show her feelings and that made him sad many times. But there was a hidden pride inside his heart that she was able to open up to him… to the guild… He cared for her so much…

He leaned towards her once again. She didn't stop him. She closed her eyes and awaited him with her lips a bit parted.

Their lips met in a questioning kiss. He was asking her, whether it's alright to be close to her, whether it's alright to touch her. She didn't refuse, so he deepened the kiss, inhaling her scent, feeling her skin. She answered his touch and her fingers ran through his wet hair. The kiss deepened.

The blanket fell down and revealed their golden lit bodies.

Gray hugged her tightly to keep her warm.

Their lips kept pressing against each other and their tongues played together playfully.  
They were inhaling each other's scents, tasting each other in a deep kiss.

A sudden thunder broke them apart. They were breathing heavily without looking to each other's eyes.

"It seems the rain's finally stopped." Erza said breathlessly.

"Yeah, so it seems." Gray said trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.

They put on their clothes and left the wooden building.

"Thank you for accompanying me." Erza said while blushing wildly.  
Gray smiled "You're welcome."

Erza smiled, too and then turned around to head home.

Gray watched her leave then looked at the clearing sky with a smile.

'Well, what do you know? Even swords have their gentle sides… and so does ice.'

**So readers, this was just a little one-shot. I'm glad you've read it through to this point and I hoped you liked it. It was just my little try to describe a kiss scene… well the story somehow born into my mind. I personally think that the kiss scene sucks… But I will gladly hear your own opinion and don't worry to make even negative judgment. I'm still just a beginner writer, if there's something I should get better with, please tell me :)**

Thanks a lot for reading and I will be even more grateful for reviews, not to mention favourites ;)

**(Sorry for grammatical mistakes, I'm too lazy to double-check)**


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